Jesus in the Talmud

Healing in the Name of Jesus 61R. Yehoshua b. Levi is one of the most important Palestinian rabbis, livingin Lydda in the first half of the third century and famous for his aggadicteaching. His grandson, who was obviously close to suffocation, washealed by some anonymous heretic, a follower of Jesus. Hence, we havehere the opposite of the Eleazar b. Dama story: whereas Eleazar b.Dama’s healing was prevented (by R. Ishmael) and he was destined todie—but gained his life in the world to come, Yehoshua’s grandson washealed—but lost his life in the world to come; his healing was inadvertentbut nevertheless valid, like an error committed by a ruler, as the versefrom Qohelet explains. A very unfortunate error, indeed, according to hisgrandfather, because it cost him his eternal life. 63Unlike in the Eleazar b. Dama story, where we hear only of the (attempted)healing “in the name of Jesus son of Pantera/Pandera,” we learnhere that the healing in the name of Jesus is accompanied by uttering, onthe part of the magician, certain words: most likely verses or parts of versesfrom the Bible. Maier, in his usual zeal to play down the impact of Jesus’name on the magical procedure, puts the emphasis on the Bible verse(s)in which he sees the real offensive behavior rather than in the use of thename of Jesus. 64 This is again a reductionist interpretation that misses thepoint: it is the name of Jesus that gives the use of the Bible verse(s) the authorityand efficacy; without Jesus’ authority the whispering of the Bibleverse(s) would have been meaningless and ineffective. So it was in theend Jesus who healed R. Yehoshua’s grandson and not just the applicationof some verses from the Bible (and it is therefore also quite unimportantwhich precise verses the magician used). Again, we do not learn muchabout the historical Jesus as a person and a teacher, but we are affirmed—in concordance with the New Testament—that he was a potent magicianwhose magical power worked independently of the object to which it wasapplied. Once uttered, the magical charm took effect, and the poorgrandfather was doomed to watching helplessly how his grandson kept hisphysical existence at the expense of his eternal life.We can even go a step further. The story about Yehoshua b. Levi and hisgrandson is not just an affirmation of the automatic effectiveness of magic;rather, it presents an ironical critique of Jesus’ and his followers’ belief intheir magical power. True, it argues, their magical power is undeniable: itworks, and one cannot do anything against its effectiveness. But it is an